Rae rolled over and hugged her Knuffle Bunny stuffed animal, and her breathing slowed almost immediately. M.E. took longer to settle down, but she eventually succumbed to sleep, too.

Even the active baby in my womb seemed to sense the need for stillness and stopped thumping around.

The leaves of the large oak tree outside of my bedroom filtered the afternoon sunlight and just a few beams shimmered through the windows. It wasn’t too hot. I had the perfect conditions for a siesta. I rolled over to my side, watching my little one’s tummies slowly rise and fall and taking in their sweet, still faces. Then I closed my eyes and slept.

I awoke before my girls did. They didn’t appear to have moved an inch. I sighed, thinking of the conversation between a mom and her small daughter that I’d read from Charlotte Zolotow’s I Like to Be Littlebefore our nap.

“Grownups never sit and do nothing.”

“They’re too busy,” said her mother.

“I like to do sit and do nothing,” said the little girl.”I like to be little.”

And I thought, I like to be with my littles because they remind me of the importance of sometimes doing nothing. My smallest children remind me that heaven can be found in a lazy afternoon spent together when you’re given the chance to do nothing and something quite important at the very same time.

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Will Work For Children

Welcome to my website (formerly known as Momopoly) where I work for children and write about them, too. I'm a wife, a quasi-crunchy, homeschooling (dropout) mom of four (plus two little ones who were lost to miscarriage), speaker, and author of Weightless: Making Peace With Your Body. Once upon a time I was a full-time journalist. Nowadays I ramble on about whatever is on my mind. Favorite topics include motherhood, my Catholic faith (or lack thereof), sleep (or lack thereof), running and fitness, body image, natural mothering, and poop.

I still occasionally write myriad media, have a monthly guest spot on Relevant Radio's Morning Air Show, and travel to exotic locations like South Bend, Indiana for speaking engagements several times a year. I'm currently a health columnist for Catholic Digest. Oh, and I'm also working* on my first novel. Let's hope I don't end up all alone hunched over my laptop in a dark room with crumpled drafts and empty gin and tonic bottles at my feet. I do the tortured artist thing way too well.